Integrated wireless and wireline billing and services management

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for integrating billing and services management systems across disparate telecommunications systems including wireless systems and local and long distance wireline systems. Wireless and wireline services may be charged to and billed under one periodic billing. A rollover management system is employed for managing units of call usage that may be “rolled over” from a present usage period to a subsequent usage period. An integrated services settlement system is provided which is operable for apportioning revenue associated with utilization of the wireless carrier&#39;s services to the wireless carrier and for apportioning revenue associated with the wireline carrier&#39;s services to the wireline carrier. An integrated telecommunications services ordering system is provided that is operable to synchronize subscriber orders between the subscriber&#39;s wireless and wireline carriers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisionalapplication No. 60/451,125 entitled “Wireline and Wireless TelephoneService Plan Method and System Including Wireless Minutes SharingBetween Wireless and Wireline Telephones,” filed Feb. 28, 2003, saidapplication incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to billing systems fortelecommunications services. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to integrating billing management functionality for wireless andwireline telecommunications services.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Many telecommunications services are typically billed on a per eventbasis or on a per unit time basis. Long distance wireline and some localwireline services typically are charged and billed at a cost per unittime, such as ten cents per minute. Similarly, many wirelesstelecommunications services are charged at a cost per unit time basis. Acommon practice among wireless carriers is to offer a set number ofminutes of calling during a given period at a given cost. For example,one calling plan may provide a user 800 minutes of wireless calling timeper month for $50.00. Some plans allow users to “rollover” unusedminutes to a subsequent usage period. Other plans allow users free callsduring off-peak periods such as weekends and evenings.

Because of the widespread availability of wireless services, many usershave begun to use their wireless telephones for certain services such aslong distance services in order to take advantage of unused minutes ofservice, or where the cost associated with the wireless service is lessexpensive then the cost associated with the wireline long distance orlocal service.

Unfortunately, utilizing two separate telephone systems is less thanefficient on a number of different levels. Users receive separatemonthly bills for the wireless and wireline services. Users must contacttwo separate carriers for services ordering and/or changes. Usersreceive correspondence from two separate carriers. Additionally,wireless telephone reception varies depending on the location oftransmitter/receiver sites and depending on the location of the user(indoors, outdoors, etc.). If a user is attempting to use her wirelesstelephone in order to avoid use of her wireline long distance service,she may literally have to chase a good wireless signal during herwireless communication.

Accordingly, there is a need for an integrated telecommunicationsbilling and services management system that integrates billingmanagement across disparate telecommunications services systems. It iswith respect to these and other considerations that the presentinvention has been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems forintegrating billing management systems across disparatetelecommunications systems including wireless systems and local and longdistance wireline systems. Generally, according to one aspect of theinvention call data records for one services system are forwarded to acall data record rating platform for determining billing informationassociated with each of the call data records. Call data records for adifferent services system are forwarded to the same or to a separatecall data record rating platform for determining billing informationassociated with each of the call data records for the different servicessystem. Billing information for each call data records associated withthe multiple services systems is forwarded from the one or more calldata record rating platforms to a billing system where a single periodicbilling may be generated for the call data records from the differentservices systems.

More particularly, according to one aspect of the invention, asubscriber to the wireless telecommunications services of a wirelesscarrier and to the local and long distance wireline services of awireline carrier may obtain a single calling plan that allows thesubscriber to utilize both wireless and wireline services under oneperiodic billing. According to this aspect, units of calling usage, forexample 800 units per month, may be shared for use of the caller'swireless and local and long distance wireline services. When wirelesscalls are transacted by the subscriber, call data records (CDR) forthose calls are forwarded by the subscriber's wireless carrier to a calldata record rating platform of the subscriber's wireline carrier. At thecall data record rating platform, each wireless call is rated todetermine whether or not the call is to be charged and at what cost.Call data records for the subscriber's local and long distance wirelinecalls are also forwarded to the call data record rating platform of thewireline carrier. Once all call data records for both the wireless callsand wireline local and long distance calls have been rated at the calldata record rating platform, data associated with the rated calls ispassed to a billing system of the wireline carrier. At the billingsystem, the wireline carrier produces a single bill for both wirelessand wireline services that may be sent to the subscriber for payment.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of integratingbilling management between a plurality of telecommunications servicessystems includes receiving first call data records (CDR) associated withcalls transacted via a first services system and receiving second CDRsassociated with calls transacted via a second services system. The firstCDRs and the second CDRs are routed to one or more CDR rating platforms.At the one or more CDR rating platforms, billing information associatedwith each of the first and second CDRs is determined. The billinginformation associated with each of the first and second CDRs is routedto a billing system. At the billing system a single periodic bill isprepared showing charges associated with the first and second CDRs.Routing the first CDRs and the second CDRs to one or more CDR ratingplatforms may include routing the first CDRs to a first CDR ratingplatform and routing the second CDRs to a second CDR rating platform.Alternatively, routing the first CDRs and the second CDRs to one or moreCDR rating platforms includes routing the first CDRs and the second CDRsto a single CDR rating platform at one of the first or second servicessystems.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a rollovermanagement system is employed for managing units of call usage that maybe “rolled over” from a present usage period to a subsequent usageperiod according to the subscriber's calling plan. Usage data isforwarded to the rollover management system from both the subscriber'swireline and wireless carriers. A rollover matrix is prepared showingthe number of units of call usage that are available for rolling over toa subsequent usage period. For example, a rollover matrix may illustratethe number of rollover minutes available to a particular subscriber on amonth-to-month basis over the course of one full year. The rollovermatrix is provided by the rollover management system to both thewireline and wireless carriers to assist in accounting associated withrollover minutes calling plans. Additionally, the rollover matrix allowsfor the publication of call units availability, such as plan anytimeminutes, rollover, night and weekend minutes and mobile-to-mobileminutes to an Internet-based web page for review by the subscriber. Orthe call units availability information may be published to a sales andservice system(s) for view by the sales/customer support personnel toallow them to answer customer questions regarding unbilled call units.The rollover management system is further operative to account for andpublish unbilled services usage for review by subscribers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an integratedservices settlement system is provided which is operable forapportioning revenue associated with utilization of the wirelesscarrier's services to the wireless carrier and for apportioning revenueassociated with the wireline carrier's services to the wireline carrier.According to another aspect of the invention, an integratedtelecommunications services ordering system is provided that is operableto synchronize subscriber orders between the subscriber's wireless andwireline carriers. According to another aspect of the invention,integrated wireless and wireline fulfillment notifications notifying asubscriber of changes in services provided to the subscriber in responseto subscriber initiated services ordering or changes or in response tocarrier initiated services changes are provided.

These and other features and advantages, which characterize the presentinvention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription and a review of the associated drawings. It is to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the followingdetail description are exemplary and explanatory only and are notrestrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing interaction between awireless carrier and a wireline carrier for providing integrated billingmanagement according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative routine for integratingbilling management features across disparate telecommunications servicessystems.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of arollover management system according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative routine for integratingbilling management services to allow subscribers to share calling plansbetween local and long-distance wireline services and wireless services.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described briefly above, embodiments of the present invention aredirected to systems and methods for integrating billing and servicesmanagement services across disparate telecommunications services systemsincluding wireless systems and local and long distance wireline systems.In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustrations, specific embodiments or examples. Theseembodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, andstructural changes may be made without departing from the spirit orscope of the present invention. The following detailed description istherefore not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of thepresent invention is defined by the appended claims and theirequivalents.

The description that follows describes embodiments of the presentinvention in terms of integrated billing and services management betweena wireless communications carrier and a wireline communications carrier.It should be understood, however, that the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to integration of billing and servicesmanagement of wireless and wireline services systems. Embodiments of thepresent invention are equally operable for integrating billing andservices management between a number of different types of servicesproviders who offer integrated services to their subscribers. Forexample, embodiments of the present invention may be utilized by twodifferent wireline services providers, or between two different wirelessproviders, or between a wireline services provider and an Internetservices provider, or between a wireless services provider and anInternet services provider, or between a wireline or wireless servicesprovider and an instant messaging services provider and many othercombinations of the above. Likewise, the description that followsdescribes integrated billing management for wireless calls and wirelinelocal and long distance calls. It should be understood that embodimentsof the present invention are equally operable to manage all types ofcall or messaging transactions requiring billing management. For exampleembodiments of the present invention are operable to manage billingassociated with wireless local and long distance calls, wireline localand long distance calls, instant messaging calls, pages andInternet-based communications.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a system architectureand environment for one embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 1 shows interaction between a wireless carrier and awireline carrier for providing integrated billing and servicesmanagement according to embodiments of the present invention. Accordingto embodiments of the present invention a wireless telecommunicationsservices provider (wireless carrier) 102 is illustrated for providingwireless telecommunications services via a wireless network 120. Asshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the wireless network120 is illustrative of conventional cellular telecommunications networksand other wireless telecommunications operating systems such assatellite-based wireless telecommunications systems, ultra widebandwireless telecommunications, low and medium range wirelesstelecommunications such as wireless fidelity (WIFI) systems and thelike. The wireless carrier 102 includes a wireless billing system/calldata record rating system 108, a subscriber data system 106 and awireless ordering system 104.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a wireless billingsystem/call data record (CDR) rating system 108 may include one or moregeneral purpose computing systems, memory and software applicationprograms operative to receive call data record information associatedwith wireless telephone calls operated via the wireless carrier 102 andto prepare periodic billing for wireless telecommunications servicesassociated with wireless services call data records. That is, when awireless communication is sent or received via the wireless carrier 102,a call data record associated with the wireless communication isreceived at the wireless billing system/call data rating system 108 ofthe wireless carrier 102 and is processed to determine whether or not acharge is associated with the call data record. On a periodic basis, forexample monthly, the billing system 108 of the wireless carrier 102generates a bill to subscribers of the wireless carrier 102 includingcharges for basic wireless services subscribed to by the subscriber andcharges associated with individual calls, if required.

The subscriber data system 106 includes general purpose computingsystems, memory, and software application programs operative to receive,store and aggregate subscriber data including subscriber personal andcontact information, subscriber billing information, subscriberservices, subscriber credit information and the like. The wirelessordering system 104 is operative to receive and process wirelessservices orders and services changes from subscribers of the services ofthe wireless carrier 102.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a wireline servicescarrier (wireline carrier) 152 is illustrated for providing local andlong distance wireline services via the wireline network 190. As shouldbe appreciated by those skilled in the art, the wireline carrier 152 mayoperate a variety of wireline and digital data networktelecommunications services including conventional local and longdistance wireline telephone services, Internet access services, digitaldata networks, wireline distributed computing networks, and the like.

Referring to the wireline carrier 152, a call data record (CDR) ratingplatform 170 is provided for rating individual call data recordsassociated with telecommunications services events such as telephonecalls made via the wireline carrier 152. As will be described in detailbelow, the CDR rating platform 170 of the present invention is alsooperative to rate wireless telephone calls made via the wireless carrier102. A wireline billing system 168 is provided which performs similarfunctions as the wireless billing system 108 described above withreference to the wireless carrier 102. As wireline local and longdistance telephone calls are made via the wireline carrier 152, calldata records associated with those telephone calls are rated by the CDRrating platform 170 to determine whether or not billing is associatedwith a given CDR in association with a given telephone call.

Data from the CDR rating platform 170 is forwarded to the wirelinebilling system 168 that prepares billing associated with telephone callsmade via the wireline carrier 152 during a given period, for examplemonthly. Other billing requirements such as state, local and federaltaxation are also applied by the wireline billing system 168 in order togenerate bills 172. According to embodiments of the present invention,bills 172 generated by the wireline billing system 168 and billsgenerated by the wireless billing system 108 may be in the form ofconventional paper bills mailed to subscribers on a periodic basis, ormay be in the form of electronic bills that are published to anInternet-based website accessible by subscribers.

Referring still to the wireline carrier 152, a business servicesplatform 156 is provided. The business services platform 156 includes arollover management system 160. As will be described below withreference to FIG. 3, the rollover management system 160 includes generalpurpose computing capability and software program applications operativeto manage units of telecommunications services usage, such as (minutesof calling time) that may be “rolled over” from one billing period to asubsequent billing period.

Referring still to the business services platform 156, a bundleintegrity manager (BIM) 158 is illustrated. The bundle integrity managerincludes general purpose computing processing functionality, memory andsoftware application programming operative to synchronizetelecommunications services affecting both the wireless carrier 102 andthe wireline carrier 152. For example, as will be described in detailbelow, according to embodiments of the present invention, servicesorders or changes placed through either the wireless ordering platform104 or the wireline ordering platform 154 may be processed through thebundle integrity manager to ensure that services changes or updates madethrough the ordering platform of one of the wireless or wirelinecarriers 102, 152 are synchronized with services provided by the otherof the wireless or wireline carrier 102, 152 according to embodiments ofthe present invention. A customer affiliate subscriber information(CASI) database 164 is provided for maintaining subscriber dataassociated with subscribers utilizing integrated services of thewireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152 according toembodiments of the present invention.

The wireline ordering platform 154 performs similar functions for thewireline carrier 152 as described for the wireless ordering platform104. That is, subscriber services orders and changes may be processedthrough the wireline ordering platform 154 to change or otherwise updateservices provided to a subscriber via the wireline carrier 152. Asshould be understood, services orders processed by the either thewireless ordering platform 104 or the wireline ordering platform 154 mayinclude any of a number of services ordered or changed by thesubscriber. For example, a services order processed by one of theordering platforms 104, 154 may include a subscriber order for awireless/wireline minute sharing plan.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a set of applicationprogramming interfaces (API) 198 are provided for allowingsynchronization between the wireless ordering platform 104 and thewireline ordering platform 154. That is, if a subscriber places an ordervia the wireless ordering platform 102 that affects services provided bythe wireline carrier 152, the APIs 198 allow for data calls between thecomputing systems and databases of the wireless ordering platform 104and the wireline ordering platform 154 to ensure that services orders,services changes or other updates made through the wireless orderingplatform 104 are passed through to the wireline ordering platform 154 asif those changes were made through the wireline ordering platform in thefirst instance. Conversely, services orders or changes made through thewireline ordering platform 154 are passed through to the wirelessordering platform 104 via the API's 198 to ensure that services orderingor other changes and/or updates are passed from the wireline orderingplatform to the wireless ordering platform 104 when those serviceschanges or updates affect services provided to a given subscriber viathe wireless carrier 102.

A settlement component 192 is illustrated between the wireless billingsystem 108 and the wireline billing system 168. According to embodimentsof the present invention, the settlement component 192 includes softwareprogramming operative to process periodic revenue associated withintegrated wireless and wireline billing in order to apportion revenueassociated with wireless services during a given period of integratedservices usage to the wireless carrier 102 and to apportion revenueassociated with wireline services during the same period of integratedservices usage to the wireline carrier 152. The fulfillment block 194and the services block 196 are illustrative of additional integratedservices provided in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. If integrated services according to embodiments of thepresent invention are ordered or changed via the wireless orderingplatform 104 or the wireline ordering platform 154, synchronizedfulfillment notification notifying the subscriber of the changes inservices are provided to the subscriber rather than having thesubscriber receive notifications from each of the wireless carrier 102and wireline carrier 152. Likewise, services information made availableto subscribers regarding their available services and services optionsmay be synchronized through a single services platform 196 forintegrated services provided according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, embodiments of the presentinvention allow for sharing of call usage resources between the servicesof different services providers, such as the wireless carrier 102 andthe wireline carrier 152. Also, as described above with reference toFIG. 1, embodiments of the present invention allow for other integratedservices including integrated ordering services, integrated fulfillmentservices, and integrated services inquiry and information services. Adescription of call services usage sharing (minutes sharing) isdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. It is advantageous atthis point to describe the functionality of other integrated servicesaccording to embodiments of the present invention including integratedordering services, subscriber data maintenance, integrated fulfillmentand integrated services inquiry.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative routine for integratingbilling management features across disparate telecommunications servicessystems. The method 200 begins at start block 205 and proceeds to block210 where telecommunications services may be ordered via the wirelessordering platform 104 of the wireless carrier 102 or via the wirelineordering platform 154 of the wireline carrier 152. For example, considerfor the description of the routine illustrated in FIG. 2 that asubscriber of wireless telecommunications services via the wirelesscarrier 102 contacts the wireless carrier 102 via the wireless orderingplatform 104 to subscribe to a minute sharing plan whereby thesubscriber will order a set number of minutes of usage of her wirelesstelecommunications services during a usage period such as a month.According to the plan requested by the subscriber, and according toembodiments of the present invention, the minute sharing plan will allowthe subscriber to utilize the local and long distance services of thewireline carrier 152 by applying usage of the wireline local and longdistance services of the wireline carrier 152 to the subscriber'swireless calling plan. For example, consider that the subscriberrequests a calling plan giving the subscriber 1000 anytime minutes ofwireless services per month.

According to the minute sharing plan subscribed to by the subscriber,all long distance telephone calls made through he wireline carrier 152and any applicable local wireline telephone calls (local callsassociated with a charge) are taxed against the 1000 anytime minutes permonth ordered by the subscriber through her wireless carrier 102. Thatis, if the subscriber uses her wireline long distance services throughthe wireline carrier 300 minutes in a given month, those 300 minutes ofusage will be subtracted from the 1000 minutes per month ordered by thesubscriber through her wireless carrier 102. On the other hand, thesubscriber may contact her wireline carrier 152 via the wirelineordering platform 154 to request the same minute sharing plan from herwireline carrier 152 whereby the subscriber request that usage of herwireless telecommunications services through her wireline carrier 102 betaxed against the services she orders from the wireline carrier 152.

At block 225, as briefly described above with reference to FIG. 1,services ordering or services change data received at the wirelessordering platform 104 from the subscriber is passed through to thewireline ordering platform 154 of the wireline carrier 152 via datacalls promulgated by the API's 198 for passing data between the wirelessordering platform 104 and the wireline ordering platform 154.Conversely, data associated with services orders or services changesmade via the wireline ordering platform 154 by a subscriber through thewireline carrier 152 are passed through to the wireless orderingplatform 104 of the wireless carrier 102 through the API's 198. Suchpassage of services ordering and services update information between theordering platforms of the wireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier152 ensures that both carriers have like information associated withtelecommunications services requiring the involvement of both carriers.For example, following from the example given above, if the subscribermakes changes to her wireless services plan that must be honored orprocessed by the services of the wireline carrier 152, exchange ofordering and services update information between the two carriers isessential to integrating the billing management system according toembodiments of the present invention.

At block 230, the subscriber data system 106 of the wireless carrier 102receives updated data for the subscriber associated with the servicesorders or changes made by the subscriber at block 210. Likewise, if thesubscriber makes services changes through the wireline carrier 152,subscriber data is updated in the customer affiliate subscriberinformation database 164 in the businesses services platform 156.According to embodiments of the present invention, on a periodic basis,for example nightly, subscriber data from the wireless carriersubscriber data system 106 associated with subscribers to integratedwireless and wireline services described herein is transmitted from thewireless carrier 102 to the customer affiliate subscriber informationdatabase (CASI) 164. Subsequently, if other services changes are made ateither the wireless carrier 102 via the wireless ordering platform 104or the wireline carrier 152 via the wireline ordering platform 154,those subsequent changes are also passed through to the CASI 164. Then,on a periodic basis, for example daily, changes fed to the CASI 164 on aperiodic basis are matched up with batch files passed from thesubscriber data system 106 of the wireless carrier 102 to the CASI 164to ensure that the CASI 164 has the latest and most complete informationassociated with subscribers to integrated services of both the wirelinecarrier 152 and the wireless carrier 102.

At block 235, the bundle integrity manager (BIM) 158 ensures servicesintegrity between the wireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152.According to embodiments of the present invention, the BIM 158 obtainsordering information from the wireline carrier 152 and the wirelesscarrier 102 including information loaded into the CASI 164, describedabove, to ensure that both systems 102, 152 are operating on the samesubscriber data. If a services change is made in one of the wirelesscarrier 102 or the wireline carrier 152 that is not passed through tothe other carrier, the BIM 158 detects the problem and notifies allaffected parties. For example, if a subscriber contacts the wirelessordering platform 104 and cancels her subscription to the minute sharingplan described by way of example above, and data associated with thechange order is not passed through to the wireline ordering platform154, the BIM 158 will detect the change and compare the change to datacontained in the CASI 164 to determine that the change order placed bythe subscriber must also be processed by the wireline carrier 152.Consequently, the BIM 158 will send a notification to the wirelineordering platform 154 to notify the wireline carrier 152 of the changeorder made by the subscriber via the wireless ordering platform 104.

At block 240, any services changes or services orders made by thesubscriber via the wireless carrier 102 or the wireline carrier 152 arereported to the subscriber via one fulfillment notification. That is,the subscriber will not receive letters or notifications from both thewireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152 regarding servicesorders or services changes made by the subscriber. At block 245, anyservices inquiries made by the subscriber regarding the integratedwireless/wireline services ordered by the subscriber may be made througha single services portal 196 through either the wireless carrier 102 orthe wireline carrier 152. That is, if the subscriber utilizes a servicesportal 196 such as a web-based information page of the wireline carrier152, the subscriber may obtain services information on the integratedwireless/wireline services ordered by the subscriber according toembodiments of the present invention. Conversely, if the subscriberselects a services portal 196 such as a web-based page of the wirelesscarrier 102, the subscriber may obtain information regarding theintegrated wireless/wireline services subscribed to by the subscriberaccording to embodiments of the present invention. The method 200 endsat block 295.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of arollover management system according to embodiments of the presentinvention. As briefly described above with reference to FIG. 1, arollover management system 160 is provided for managing services thatare not used in a given services period which may be “rolled over” to asubsequent services usage period. For example, if the subscribersubscribes to a calling plan giving the subscriber 1000 anytime minutesper month and the subscriber subsequently subscribes minute sharingplan, described above by way of example, the rollover management system160 ensures a proper accounting of rollover units (e.g., minutes).

Referring to FIG. 3, a rollover manager/database 300 is illustrated.According to embodiments of the present invention, the rollovermanager/database 300 includes general purpose computing and memoryfunctionality and software programming operable for collectinginformation from both the wireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier152 regarding subscriber services usage in order to properly account forrollover units available to the subscriber during any given usageperiod. On the back end of the rollover management system, the wirelesscarrier 102 passes through to the rollover manager 300 usage history fora given wireless subscriber to ensure the rollover manager 300 has aproper accounting of the number of units of services usage utilized bythe subscriber. The wireline carrier 152 passes CDR rating dataassociated with local and long distance wireline telephone callsrequiring units of services usage (e.g., requiring minutes of call usagefrom the subscriber's calling plan).

According to embodiments of the present invention, a rollover matrix isprepared and maintained by the rollover manager 300 containing rolloverunits data for a set period of time, such as rollover minutes for everymonth of one year. The data maintained in the rollover matrix isutilized for calculation, display and billing of rollover minutes. Therollover manager 300 transfers the rollover matrix between the wirelesscarrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152 to allow both carriers tosynchronize information associated with rollover minutes.

On the front end of the rollover management system 160 is provided a webservices platform 320. According to embodiments of the presentinvention, rollover information prepared and maintained by the rollovermanager 300 is published via the web services platform 320 to allowsubscribers and carrier administrators to review rollover dataassociated with a given subscriber account.

The rollover management system 160 also tracks unbilled usage databetween the wireless carrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152. As isunderstood by those skilled in the art, unbilled usage includessubscriber services usage that has been expended, but has not yet beenapplied to a subscriber bill. For example, if the subscriber's last billprovided information through the 15th day of the present month, servicesusage by the subscriber after the 15th day of the present month will notbe billed to the subscriber until the 15th day of the next month.Consequently, the subscriber may not have an accurate understanding ofthe number of units of usage, for example minutes of usage, presentlyavailable to the subscriber. The rollover management system 160 tracksunbilled subscriber usage and makes that information available to thesubscriber via the web services platform 320. The unbilled subscriberusage information may also be made available to customer representativesat a sales and customer support center or the like.

According to embodiments of the present invention, if a subscriberattempts to order the integrated wireline/wireless billing managementplan according to embodiments of the present invention via the wirelessordering platform 104 or the wireline ordering platform 154, thesubscriber may place the order through an electronic ordering systemthrough either the wireless carrier 102 or the wireline carrier 152.Utilizing a web-based graphical user interface, the subscriber can checkfor the eligibility of the wireline carrier 152 for providing thedesired integrated wireless/wireline calling plan. If the carrier 152 iseligible for providing the desired service, the subscriber may place theorder through the wireless carrier 102, and the ordering information ispassed through to the wireline carrier 152 via the API's 198 describedherein.

Having described the ordering of an integrated wireless/wireline billingsystem (e.g., minute sharing plan) above with reference to FIGS. 2 and3, it is advantageous to described the processing of billing associatedwith calls made via the wireless carrier 102 and the wireline 152according to the integrated wireless/wireline billing system. FIG. 4 isa flow diagram showing an illustrative routine for integrating billingmanagement services to allow subscribers to share calling plans betweenlocal and long distance wireline services and wireless services. Themethod 400 begins at start block 405 and proceeds to blocks 410 and 415.At block 410, wireless calls are made and received by the subscriber viathe subscribers' wireless service through the wireless carrier 102. Atblock 415, wireline calls are made by the subscriber using thesubscriber's long distance telephone service through the wirelinecarrier 152. For purposes of example only considered that the subscriberhas previously ordered a minute sharing plan whereby the subscriberreceives 1000 anytime minutes per month which may be used both wirelessand wireline long distance calls.

At block 420, call data records 124 associated with wireless calls madeor received by the subscriber are received at the wireless billingsystem 108 of the wireless carrier 102. The CDRs 124 are passed by thewireless billing system 108 to the CDR rating platform 170 of thewireline carrier 152. As should be understood by those skilled in theart, telephone calls made from and received by the subscriber's wirelesstelephone unit 110 may be tagged in accordance with the subscriber'sintegrated wireless/wireline calling plan so that call data recordsassociated with those calls will be transferred to the CDR ratingplatform 170. The CDRs 124 may be passed to the CDR rating platform 170one record at a time, or the CDRs may be sent to the CDR rating platform170 in batch mode on a periodic basis.

At block 425, the CDR rating platform 170 rates the CDRs 124 receivedfrom the wireless carrier 102 to determine whether calls associated withthe CDRs 124 may be charged to the subscriber's calling plan or todetermine whether the calls should have any charge at all. In the firstinstance, the CDR rating platform determines whether a given CDR isrelated to a call requiring no charge. For example, if the subscriber'scalling plan stipulates that all mobile-to-mobile calls result in nocharge, a determination is made as to whether a given CDR is the resultof a mobile-to-mobile call. For another example, if the subscriber'scalling plan stipulates that all evening and weekend calls are free, adetermination is made at the CDR rating platform 170 that all CDRs forcalls made or received during the evenings and weekends receive nocharge. In addition to the CDRs 124 received from the wireless carrier102, CDRs associated with use of the wireline local and long distanceservices of the wireline carrier 152 are passed to the CDR ratingplatform 170 for rating with the CDRs 124 from the wireless carrier 102.

If the CDR rating platform 170 has determined that a CDR is associatedwith a call requiring a charge, a determination is made as to how manyunits of call usage, for example minutes of call usage, are remaining inthe subscriber's account. If the subscriber has remaining minutes tocover a call associated with a particular CDR, that CDR is rated againstthe remaining minutes left in the subscriber's account. If thesubscriber's account does not have remaining minutes, a determination ismade via the rollover management system 160 as to whether thesubscriber's account has access to rollover minutes rolled over from aprevious billing period. If rollover minutes are available, the callassociated with the given CDR is rated against the available rolloverminutes. If no additional minutes are available either in thesubscriber's minutes account or in the subscriber's rollover minutesaccount, the CDR platform 170 determines what charge is related to theunits of call usage. That is, a determination is made as to what chargeis associated with calls made that exceed the number of minutes permonth ordered by the subscriber.

At block 430, all rated CDR data is passed from the CDR rating platform170 to the wireline billing system 168. At block 435, the wirelinebilling system totals all charges associated with the subscriber'saccount including charges for individual CDRs exceeding the number ofminutes subscribed to by the subscriber. Additional accounting data isapplied to the charges including local, state, and federal taxation, anda bill 172 is generated. As described above, the bill 172 may be in theform of a standard paper bill that may be mailed to the subscriber, orthe bill may be in the form of an electronic bill 10 that may bepublished to the subscriber via an Internet-based web page.

At block 440, the rollover management system 160 determines whether anyminutes of usage are still available at the end of a given billingperiod. If so, the rollover management system 160 applies the remainingminutes to the rollover matrix, as required by the subscribers callingplan. At block 445, unbilled usage data is updated, as described abovewith reference to FIG. 3.

At block 450, the wireline billing system prepares settlement data forapportioning revenue between the wireless carrier 102 and the wirelinecarrier 152. For example, consider that a charge of $30.00 per month isassessed to the subscriber for the integrated wireless/wireline minutessharing calling plan. Consider that the wireless carrier 102 has a setfee of $10.00 per month. Consider that the wireline carrier 152 has aset fee of $6.00 per month. After subtracting the set fees total of$16.00 per month from the $30.00 per month calling plan fee, theremaining $14.00 per month may be apportioned between the wirelesscarrier 102 and the wireline carrier 152 based on the amount of callusage associated with each carrier. As should be understood, theforegoing settlement discussion is by way of example only and is notrestrictive of the invention as claimed herein. That is, revenueapportionment may be accomplished according to any agreement between thetwo or more services providers utilizing embodiments of the presentinvention for billing and services management. For example, the setcharges due to each carrier in the above example may be handled on thebackend prior to preparation of settlement data, whereby settlement datais only calculated based on customer services usage. After revenueassociated with a given usage period is settled between the wirelesscarrier 102 and wireline 152, the method ends at block 495.

According to an alternative embodiment, the CDRs 124 are passed from thewireline carrier 152 to the wireless billing system/CDR rating platform108 of the wireless carrier 102. According to this alternativeembodiment, the CDR rating platform of the wireless billing system 108performs CDR rating, as described above for the CDR rating platform 170.Once all CDRs 124 are rated by the wireless billing system/CDR ratingplatform 108, the rated CDR data is passed back to the wireline billingsystem 168 for processing as described above with reference to FIG. 4.According to another alternative the CDRs for each carrier may be ratedat each of their respective CDR rating platforms 108 and 170 and therated data may then be passed to a single billing system at either ofthe two carriers for generation of a single periodic bill as describedherein. According to yet another embodiment, the CDRs for each carriermay be sent to a third party CDR rating platform and billing systemoperated separately from either of the carriers 102, 152 where CDRs arerated and where billing is performed on behalf of the carriers 102, 152.Likewise, other billing and services management components and systems,such as the settlement component 192 and the rollover management system160, may be operated separately from either of the carriers 102, 152,described herein. That is, such components and systems may be operatedby third parties who offer services such as revenue settlement androllover management to carriers such as the carriers 102 and 152.

As described herein, an integrated telecommunications billing andservices management system is provided. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be madein the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art from consideration of the specification andpractice of the invention disclosed herein.

1. A method of integrating billing and services management, and revenuesharing between a wireless telecommunications carrier and a disparatewireline telecommunications carrier executed on one or more computers,comprising; provisioning by a computer a call unit sharing plan allowinga user to charge units of wireless usage at a wireless carrier and unitsof wireline usage at a disparate wireline carrier to one calling plan;receiving wireless usage at the wireless carrier; receiving wirelineusage at a wireline usage rating platform; routing the wireless usage tothe wireline usage rating platform; receiving a rollover matrixindicating a number of units of call usage that are available forrolling over to a subsequent usage period; rolling over to thesubsequent usage period the number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over; when any of the wireless or wireline usagerequires a billing charge, charging any of the wireless or wirelineusage to the call unit sharing plan; and settling a revenue associatedwith the call unit sharing plan between the wireless carrier and thewireline carrier in a single billing cycle by apportioning an amount ofthe revenue related to wireless services during the single billing cycleto the wireless carrier and apportioning an amount of the revenuerelated to wireline services during the single billing cycle associatedto the wireline carrier.
 2. The method of claim 1, including preparing asingle periodic bill showing charges to the call unit sharing planrelated to the wireless and wireline usage charged to the call unitsharing plan.
 3. The method of claim 1, prior to charging any of thewireless or wireline usage to the call unit sharing plan, rating thewireless and wireline usage at the wireline usage rating platform todetermine whether any of the wireless or wireline usage must be chargedto the call unit sharing plan.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising determining whether any of the wireless or wireline usage isrelated to calling types requiring no charge.
 5. The method of claim 4,whereby when any of the wireless or wireline usage is associated withcalling types requiring no charge, designating the any of the wirelessor wireline usage requiring no charge.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherebyat least some of the wireless usage requires no charge because awireless call related to the at least some of the wireless usagerequiring no charge was made during a free call period or a differentrate call period.
 7. The method of claim 4, whereby at least some of thewireless usage requires no charge because a wireless call related to theat least some of the wireless usage requiring no charge was made from awireless phone of the user to a wireline home phone of the user.
 8. Amethod for synchronizing services on two disparate services orderingplatforms between a first telecommunications services carrier and asecond disparate telecommunications services carrier executed on one ormore computers, the method comprising: receiving a services order at afirst services ordering platform of the first telecommunicationsservices carrier requiring services changes that affect the seconddisparate telecommunications services carrier; notifying the seconddisparate telecommunications services carrier to provide the servicesorder to the second telecommunications services carrier; on a periodicbasis, updating a customer affiliate subscriber information database ina businesses services platform the services changes that affect thesecond disparate telecommunications services carrier; and on a periodicbasis, synchronizing by a computer batch files passed from a subscriberdata system of the first telecommunications services carrier to thecustomer affiliate subscriber information database to ensure thecustomer affiliate subscriber information database has completeinformation related to a subscriber to the first telecommunicationsservices carrier and the second disparate telecommunications servicescarrier.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising ensuring thatsubscriber services at the first telecommunications services carrier aresynchronized with subscriber services at the second telecommunicationsservices carrier for any subscriber services affecting both the firstand second disparate telecommunications services carriers.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising ensuring that no subscriberservices changes are made at the first telecommunications servicescarrier affecting the second disparate telecommunications servicescarrier if a responsive services change is not made at the seconddisparate telecommunications services carrier.
 11. The method of claim9, further comprising when a services change is made at the firsttelecommunications services carrier affecting the secondtelecommunications services carrier without making a required responsiveservices change at the second disparate telecommunications servicescarrier, notifying the second disparate telecommunications carrier ofthe services change at the first telecommunications services carrier.12. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending an integratedfulfillment notification to any subscriber making services changes witheither the first telecommunications services carrier or the seconddisparate telecommunications services carrier where the services changesaffect both the first telecommunications services carrier and the seconddisparate telecommunications services carrier.
 13. A system forintegrating billing and services management and revenue sharing betweena wireless telecommunications carrier and a disparate wirelinetelecommunications carrier, comprising; a wireless carrier billingsystem executing on a computer operative to receive wireless call usagerelated to wireless calls made via the wireless carrier; to route thewireless call usage to a call usage rating platform at the wirelinecarrier; the call usage rating platform at the wireline carrieroperative to receive wireline call usage related to wireline calls madevia the wireline carrier; to charge any of the wireless or wireline callusage to a subscriber call unit sharing plan when any of the wireless orwireline call usage requires a billing charge; to route rated call usageinformation for all wireless and wireline call usage requiring billingunder the subscriber call unit sharing plan to a wireline carrierbilling system; a rollover management system operative to generate arollover matrix indicating a number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over to a subsequent usage period; to roll over tothe subsequent usage period the number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over and the wireline carrier billing systemoperative to prepare a single periodic bill showing charges to thesubscriber call unit sharing plan related to the wireless and wirelinecall usage charged to the call unit sharing plan; to indicate the numberof units of call usage that have been rolled over to the subsequentusage period; and to settle a revenue associated with the singleperiodic bill between the wireless carrier and the wireline carrier byapportioning an amount of the revenue related to wireless servicesduring a billing cycle associated with the single periodic bill to thewireless carrier and apportioning an amount of the revenue related towireline services during the billing cycle associated with the singleperiodic bill to the wireline carrier.
 14. A method of integratingbilling management and revenue sharing between a wirelesstelecommunications carrier and a disparate wireline telecommunicationscarrier executed on one or more computers, comprising; provisioning acall unit sharing plan allowing a user to charge units of wireless usageat a wireless carrier and units of wireline usage at a disparatewireline carrier to one calling plan; receiving wireless usage at thewireless carrier; receiving wireline usage at a wireline usage ratingplatform; routing the wireless usage to the wireline usage ratingplatform; rating by a computer the wireless and wireline usage at thewireline usage rating platform to determine whether any of the wirelessor wireline usage must be charged to the call unit sharing plan; whenany of the wireless or wireline usage requires a billing charge,charging the any of the wireless or wireline usage to the call unitsharing plan; receiving a rollover matrix indicating a number of unitsof call usage that are available for rolling over to a subsequent usageperiod; rolling over to the subsequent usage period the number of unitsof call usage that are available for rolling over; preparing a singleperiodic bill showing charges to the call unit sharing plan related tothe wireless and wireline usage charged to the call unit sharing planand the number of units of call usage that have been rolled over to thesubsequent usage period; settling a revenue associated with the singleperiodic bill between the wireless carrier and the wireline carrier byapportioning an amount of the revenue associated with wireless servicesduring a billing cycle associated with the single periodic bill to thewireless carrier; and apportioning an amount of the revenue associatedwith wireline services during the billing cycle related to the singleperiodic bill to the wireline carrier.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising when any of the wireless usage comprises a wirelesscall from a wireless phone of the user to a wireline home phone of theuser, designating the wireless or wireline usage related to the wirelesscall as requiring no charge.
 16. A method of integrating billingmanagement between a plurality of carriers' disparate telecommunicationsservices systems executed on one or more computers, comprising;receiving first call usage associated with calls transacted via a firstservices system; receiving second call usage related to calls transactedvia a second services system; routing the first call usage and thesecond call usage to one or more call usage rating platforms;determining in a computer billing information related to each of thefirst and second call usages; routing billing information related toeach of the first and second call usages to a billing system; receivinga rollover matrix indicating a number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over to a subsequent usage period; rolling over tothe subsequent usage period the number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over; and preparing a single periodic bill showingcharges related to the first and second call usages and the number ofunits of call usage that have been rolled over to the subsequent usageperiod.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereby routing the first call usageand the second call usage to the one or more call usage rating platformsincludes routing the first call usage to a first call usage ratingplatform and routing the second call usage to a second call usage ratingplatform.
 18. The method of claim 16, whereby routing the first callusage and the second call usage to the one or more call usage ratingplatforms includes routing the first call usage and the second callusage to a single call usage rating platform at one of the first orsecond services systems.
 19. A method of integrating billing andservices management between a wireless telecommunications carrier and adisparate wireline telecommunications carrier executed on one or morecomputers, comprising; provisioning by a computer a call unit sharingplan allowing a user to charge units of wireless usage at a wirelesscarrier and units of wireline usage at a disparate wireline carrier toone calling plan; receiving wireless usage at the wireless carrier;receiving wireline usage at a wireline usage rating platform; receivingthe wireless usage at the wireline usage rating platform; receiving arollover matrix indicating a number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over to a subsequent usage period; rolling over tothe subsequent usage period the number of units of call usage that areavailable for rolling over; and when any of the wireless or wirelineusage requires a billing charge, charging any of the wireless orwireline usage to the call unit sharing plan.
 20. The method of claim19, further comprising preparing a single periodic bill showing chargesto the call unit sharing plan related to the wireless and wireline usagecharged to the call unit sharing plan.
 21. The method of claim 19,further comprising prior to charging any of the wireless or wirelineusage to the call unit sharing plan: rating each wireless and wirelineusage at the wireline usage rating platform to determine whether anyusage must be charged to the call unit sharing plan; determining whetherany wireless usage or wireline usage is related to calling typesrequiring no charge; and in response to any wireless usage or wirelineusage being related to calling types requiring no charge, designatingthe any wireless usage or wireline usage requiring no charge asrequiring no charge.
 22. A method of integrating billing and servicesmanagement between a wireless telecommunications carrier and a disparatewireline telecommunications carrier executed on one or more computers,comprising; provisioning by computer a call unit sharing plan allowing auser to charge units of wireless usage at a wireless carrier and unitsof wireline usage at a disparate wireline carrier to one calling plan;receiving wireline call usage at a wireline rating platform; receivingwireless call usage at a wireline rating platform; when any of thewireless or wireline call usage requires a billing charge, charging theany of the wireless or wireline call usage requiring a billing charge tothe call unit sharing plan; receiving a rollover matrix indicating anumber of units of call usage that are available for rolling over to asubsequent usage period; rolling over to the subsequent usage period thenumber of units of call usage that are available for rolling over andpreparing a single periodic bill showing charges to the call unitsharing plan related to the wireless and wireline call usage charged tothe call unit sharing plan and the number of units of call usage thathave been rolled over to the subsequent usage period.